If you listen close enough, you can probably hear the horns and drums coming from the direction of Portland, OR. There is a new band taking over the West coast and spreading farther and farther east as we speak. It’s no ordinary rock or pop group. MarchFourth Marching Band is a group made up of 20 musicians, stilt-walkers, acrobats and dancers. True to its name, the group was formed on March 4th, 2003 in Portland. They have been touring the US and the world beyond ever since.
Yes, you read that right: MarchFourth features people on stilts who not only perform onstage but wander through the crowd and dance with audience members. On stage is a horn section featuring trombones, trumpets and saxophones. MarchFourth has a full percussion section, an electric bass guitar and an electric guitar. The band mainly plays original songs that fall somewhere in between the rock, funk and world genres. They play with a mission to bring joy to audiences everywhere.
Coincidentally and conveniently for us at CMU, MarchFourth loves to play in Colorado. They have traveled to our state several times to perform; they especially seem to like the Glenwood Springs area, as they have played there many times in the past few years. I saw them most recently at the Carbondale Mountain Fair back in July. I fell in love with their newest album, their gypsy-like spin on traditional marching band attire and their jovial energy. They are currently on a national tour and will be playing in Fort Collins on Sept. 21, Denver on Sept. 22 and Eagle on Sept. 23 before heading back west to California.
My personal favorite song of theirs is called “Inventing the Wheel,” which they played live at Mountain Fair. It is an instrumental piece heavily featuring electric guitar and horn solos. It was by far the most attention-grabbing piece they played and the entire crowd started imitating the sways and dance moves of the musicians onstage. Not all of their songs are instrumental. A couple of the horn players and percussionists sing a number of their songs.
The show was more than fun to watch. I felt as though I was being invited to a party with the band. The dancers were all dressed up and maneuvering through the crowd. Over at the merch tent, they were even selling miniature marching band-style hats along with CDs and t-shirts. MarchFourth was the final band to play at Mountain Fair, and their performance gave a celebratory and communal atmosphere that is so easy to forget.
I think that CMU as a campus has a great community already, but it never hurts to be reminded that you are among friends, especially in times like these when so many people feel divided. I think it would do us good to be pulled into a party with a band like MarchFourth for a night and bond with each other over good music. Of course, there are already so many great opportunities to celebrate music and the arts on campus, but how many students and faculty actually attend more than one, if any, of those events? The PAC concert is meant to bring us together as a school and from what I’ve seen, there is no better band than MarchFourth at drawing attention and throwing a party.
MarchFourth released their most recent album, “Magic Number”, on Sept. 30, 2016. For a taste of what this band has to offer, you can find them on Apple music, YouTube, Spotify and their very own website marchfourthband.com.
